Turkey’s Shift on the Syrian War

Late last week, Turkey significantly escalated its involvement in Syria’s civil war by carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and announcing that it would allow American military aircraft targeting the terrorist group to fly sorties out of Turkey.

On Friday, Turkish war planes launched airstrikes against the camps of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., a guerrilla group that operates out of remote regions in northern Iraq. The attack ended a truce between the Ankara government and the Kurdish militants that has largely held since 2013. Turkey’s opportunistic decision to conflate the risks posed by the Islamic State with its three-decade conflict with Kurdish separatists could set back the broader efforts of the American-led coalition.

Having sought Turkey’s greater involvement in Syria for a long time, American officials appear reluctant to criticize Turkey’s bombing of the P.K.K. Brett McGurk, a State Department official who is among those leading the effort against the Islamic State, noted in a statement over the weekend that the United States played no role in the airstrikes against the Kurdish group, but recognized Turkey’s “right to self-defense.”

In launching new attacks against the P.K.K. and engaging in the war against the Islamic State, Turkey appears motivated by a desire to stem the proliferation of armed Kurdish groups along its border. The Kurds, an ethnic group in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, have long wanted to carve out a sovereign state in the region. That threat will not be reduced by escalating the conflict, which could potentially be resolved through negotiation.

In the short term, Turkey’s action is counterproductive for fighting ISIS. A Syrian offshoot of the P.K.K. known as the People’s Protection Units, or Y.P.G., has been among the most reliable allies for the American military in Syria, as it has desperately sought fighters it can trust in Syria to hold down terrain.

If Turkey were to focus on routing the Islamic State, the multinational fight could possibly gain more traction. Allowing American war planes to operate out of Turkey significantly cuts down flight time to and from targets. Turkey also appears more willing than ever to take meaningful steps to choke off the Islamic State’s pipelines of fighters and money. Those are important steps. But Turkey’s simultaneous campaign against the Kurds could seriously undermine those efforts.